Compliments and Pick up Lines in Afrikaans

With the world cup only a few weeks away people are heading to South Africa. Here is our advice on how to say a few important phrases in Afrikaans while you're down there.

For starters: Afrikaans has a very hard H sound for the letter. Like you are hocking a loogie, or choking. Thus, G = Hard H sound. Also, J makes the Y sound. W = V which is similar to how Germans or the Dutch use it. They also use the letter "n" like we use the letter "a" in English. Don't ask, that's just the way it is.

There is a lot more to the language, but if you wanted the finer points of Afrikaans you would probably just buy a real book on How To Speak Afrikaans. Or, get yourself the most up to date South Africa Lonely Planet. They do have some basic translations on their guide book.

	English	Afrikaans	Phonetic
Introductions	Good morning	Goeie more	go-ee more
	Good evening (hello)	Goeie naand	go-ee naan
	How are you?	Hoe gaan dit?	Hoo gaan dit?
	Good, thanks	Goed, dankie	go-ed, don-key
	Now that you have initiated conversation it is safe to say they probably aren't going to shank you. Let's find out!
Getting to know each other better	Where are you from?	Waar is jy vandaan?	Var is yie fahn-daan
	Would you like a drink?	Wil jy n dop drink?	Vill Yie n dop drink?
	No	Nee	Nee
	Yes	Ja	Yah
	Cheers	gesuntyd	hha-soon-tight
	You are beautiful	Jy is pragtig	Yie is praHH-taHH
	Thank you	Dankie	Don-key
	How long have you been a model?	Hoe lank is jy al n model?	Hoo lonk is yie ahl n model?
	If you're feeling somewhat lucky you can really lay it on thick.
Time to bring out your A-Game	You have beautiful eyes	Jy het paragtige oë	Yie het pa-rah-tee-gay o-ee
	Your feet smell good	Jou voete ruik lekker	Yoa voot rayk lekker
	Do you have kids?	Het jy kinders?	Het yie kinders?
	Would you like some?	Sal jy n paar wil he?	Sal yie n pahr vill he?
	The feet thing might freak them out a bit so expect to hear these
	Leave me alone.	Laat my net rus.	Laht mey net ris
	Don't touch me	Moet nie aan my vat nie!	Moot nee aan mey vaht nee
	I'll call the police	Ek sal die polisie roep	Ek saal dee po-lees-ee roop
	In fact, anything at this point that includes the word "polisie" means you should scout down your nearest exit. If you are somewhat more effective, then expect to hear these
What you should expect to hear	Kiss me cutie	Soen my bokkie	Soon me bo-key
	You are kind of chubby...but I would do you anyway!	Jy is redelik mollig…maar ek sal jou doen.	Yie es red-ee-lik, maar ek saal yoo doon
	Where do you stay?	Waar bly jy	Vaar bley yie
	And the likely outcome for most of you...
	Good bye	Tot siens	Tote seens

This is a rough Afrikaans translation guide and by no means should this ever be used to travel around the region. However, when used properly, it will help get your point across, break the ice or make you strike out right away so you can continue drinking until you get it right.

While I do have a few more phrases which could be considered more "to the point", I have decided to leave them out for now. If you feel this is a travesty and want the dirty phrases in Afrikaans to be added to this list, then please let me know in an email to Tweet us.

Before leaving for South Africa get the South Africa Lonely Planet. Good luck out there!

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